Improvement in connections for iron and steel bridges



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CONNECTIONS FOR IRON AND STEEL BRIDGES.

Specification forming part 0f Letters Patent No. l21,848, dated December12, 1871.

To all whom t 'may concern:

Be it known that We, THOMAS C. CLARKE and ADoLPHUs B-oNZANo, of the cityof Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Connections for Iron or Steel Bridges; and we dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, apd exact descriptionof the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making apart of this specication, in which- Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent,respectively, a front view, elevation, and plan of a Wrought-ironcolumn, postfoot, and lower chord, iioor, and tie systems, as will beexplained.

This invention consists in forming a wroughtiron post-foot forcylindrical, segmental, or squaresided wrought-iron columns by passingthe connecting-pins of the lower chord directly through the body of thecolumns without the use, as heretofore, of any wrought-iron brackets,angle-irons, or plates, or the use of cast-iron, and, at the same time,so to connect this foot with the licor-beams, by means of a lower plate,as to hermetically seal the lower part of the post, and, by acylindrical projection on the lower part oi' said lower plate, so toattach the Hoor-beams that they will be rigidly held to the toot ofthepost and at any angle with the axis of the bridge; and it furtherconsists in the construction ofthe suspension-Washers under thelicor-beams, made of wrought-iron beams, angle-iron, and plates, rivetedor otl1erwise united together, as will be explained.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, wewill proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawin Nrepresents a vertical post ot' an iron bridgei truss with thelower-chord system O and tie system P connected therewith or thereto bymeans of a pin, Q, passing through the body ofthe column. The foot ofthe post N sits or rests upon a plate, R, that has a sleeve or iange, c,upon it for receiving said post, and turned-down iianges a a for takin gover and holding together the lower chords O O. A wrought-iron washer,S, is suspended by and drawn up against the under side of the chords Oby the suspension-rods T, which take over the pin Q. The washer S ismade oi' the beams d and plates e riveted thereto; and on the top of theWasher is riveted the angle-iron f, which embraces and retains thebottom chords O. On the under side of the plate R there is a cylindricalprojection, i, which passesbetween, in-

to, or through the heads of the chords O, which admits of thetloor-beams being fastened to the foot of the post at any desired anglewith the axis of the bridge. This plate R, further, seals the lower partofthe post and prevents any Water or moisture from entering there. Thefloorbeams are supported on or by the washers S, and may have anydesired angle of skew. The column N, where the pin Q passes through it,may be re-enforced, as at b.

Ve are aware that lower-chord pins have been made to pass through thebody of open posts made of channel, angle, or ot' T-iron. We are alsoaware that a thrust-piece on a lower plate at the bottom otl the posthas also been used. Our invention differs from these in this: That inour case the lower chord-pin passes through a segmental wrought-ironcolumn in connection with a lower plate, which closes the posthermetically, preventing .thereby oxidation ot the interior of the post;and the cylindrical projection z' on the under part of the plate forms aradial thrust-piece for the Hoor-beams. The suspending ot' thefloor-beams oi' a bridge-truss b v means ofthe compound wroughtironsuspensionwasher, made ot' channel or :l2-shaped beams and a plate, istar preferable, because much more reliable than cast-iron plates orwrought-iron straps, as heretofore used.

Having th us fully described our invention, what we claim herein as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination ofthe lower chord-pins of a bridge-truss with asegmental wrought-iron column, the lower plate and its cylindricalthrustpiece, and the compound su spension-washer, substantially as andfor the purpose described and represented.

2. In combination with the post and lower chord, an interposed plate, R,with a project-ion, z', for a thrust-piece for the licor-beams and forholding the Hoor-beams at any desired angle, substantially as described.

3. The washer S, composed of the beams d d, plate e, and angle-irons f,riveted or bolted together, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

THOMAS C. CLARKE. A. BONZANO. Witnesses:

A. B. SToUeHToN,

EDMUND MASSON. (2l)

